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No one can give consent on behalf of an incompetent adult patient

Honorary lecturer medical law University of Wales, Aberystwyth SY23 3DY

EDITOR,—The case of the widow who was refused permission to use her dead husband's sperm continues to be the subject of passionate debate in the press.1 The husband did not consent in writing to the use of his sperm after his death, and this is a specified requirement under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority had no option but to act according to the statute, …